Safety-guard and leveling device



L. L. WHITNEY.

SAFETY GUARD AND LEVE L ING DEVICE. APPLICATION HLED FEB-l3. 1918.

1,355,295, Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET I. I

L. L. WHITNEY.

SAFETY GUARD AND LEVELING DEVICE.

APPLICATION HLED FEB. l3, I9I8.

1,355,295. Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LonE L. WHITNEY, or HAMMOND, INDIANA, assrenon TO AMERICANSTEEL-FOUNDRIES, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or NEW JERSEY.

SAFETY-GUARD AND LEVELING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters, Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

Application filed February 13, 1918. Serial No. 217,008.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOREN L. WHITNEY, a citizen of the United States,residin at Hammond, in the county of Lake and S tate of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Guards andLeveling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to safety guards and leveling devices.

The object of the invention is to simplify and improve combined safetyguards and leveling devices, making same more capable of being readilyconnected and disconnected with respect to themselves and associatedparts.

Generally speaking this and other objects are accomplished by providinga combined safety guard and leveling device including a plurality ofoppositely extending members, and means for readily connecting anddisconnecting the same with respect to each other.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying sheets of drawings inwhich,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway car truck,embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same, parts being broken awayfor the sake of clearness.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of safety guard andleveling device.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the same, parts being broken away to show moreclearly connecting means.

' Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another modified form of the safetyguard and leveling device; and,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same, parts being broken away for the sakeof clearness.

The various modifications of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and drawings and will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be noted thatI have disclosed my invention in connection with a railway car truck,including a spring plank 10, to which are connected depending aperturedhangers 11 for supporting duplicate,

interchangeable and oppositely extending combined safety guard andleveling devlce members 12, which preferably are rigid and have theirouter upturned ends underlying brake beams 13. The inner ends of theinembers 12 terminate in flattened cooperatlng portions 14, whichoverlap each other and which are secured to'the spring plank or anyother suitable support by a bolt 15, extending through the spring plankand over-lapping ends 14 and which carries a nut 16 for locking theparts together. This combined safety guard and leveling deviceservestwo-functions. First, it prevents the brake beam 13 from fallingto the tracks, if for any reason it becomes disconnected from its normalhangings. Second, by cooperative action of the upturned ends of the bars12 and the tension members 17 of the beams, the latter are leveledwhereby the brake shoes are maintained in a concentric relationship withrespect to the tread sur face of the cooperating truck wheels- It isapparent from the arrangement disclosed in F igs. 1 and 2 that if thesafety bar and leveling device were made in one piece with the endsupturned to the extent shown, it would be impossible to remove same fromthe hangers 11, without disconnecting the hangers from the spring plank.However, by making the safety and leveling device in two interchangeableparts 12, it is not only a simple matter to set'the same in place andconnect them to a suitable support and to each other, but also an easymatter to disconnect and withdraw same from their supporting means.

In Figs. 3 and 4 is disclosed an arrangement, showing the inner ends ofthe combined safety bars and leveling members 18 with their inner ends19 offset and curved to conform with a circular clamp plate 20, havingupturned retaining flanges 21 for emmembers in question, the plate 20being secured in this case to the under side of the spring plank 22, byabolt and nut arrangement 23, whereby the parts may be readily connectedand disconnected with respect to the support and to each other.

In the arrangement disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6, the inner ends 24 of therigid bars are curved in a manner whereby one is received by the otherand they are held in such a position by a bolt and nut arrangement 25,said ends being clamped together normally to prevent relative movementwith respect to each other- 7 1. In a railway car truck, the combinationof supporting means, oppositely arranged safety bars having upturnedportions for guiding and leveling a brake beam, and

means for connecting and disconnecting the safety barswith respect tosaid supporting means, said oppositely arranged safety bars being formedseparately to permit longitudinal removal of same from said supportingmeans and normally being connected to each other at their inner ends.

2. In a railway car truck, the combination of a springplank, bracketscarried thereby, oppositely arranged safety bars having upbars beingformed in separate pieces to permit longitudinal removal of same throughsaid brackets and normally being connected I to each other attheir-inner ends.

3. In a railway car truck, oppositely eX- tending safety bars having theouter ends upturned for leveling associated brake beams, supportingmeans for said bars, and means for securing together the inner ends ofsaid leveling bars whereby they are maintained in a given position andwhereby the bars may be withdrawn from the supporting means whendisconnected from'each other.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 2nd day of February, A. D. 1918. I

' LOREN I). WHITNEY.

